EVALUATE THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE UK IS IN THE MIDST OF A DEMOCRATIC CRISIS - dem+par

Free and fair elections - agree

• FPTP is an unfair electoral system - winning party get a disproportionate amount of seats

• In 2015, Tories won 37% of the popular vote, but 51% of seats in parliament

• 16 and 17 year olds can't vote, whilst they can pay taxes and join the army etc.

• 2021 elections bill requires voter ID, this will suppress turnout. It will have a disproportionate impact on lower income areas, as it costs money to buy authenticated ID.
  This exacerbates an existing issue as poorer areas already have lower turnout
  In addition, this weakens the independence of the electoral commission and politicians are having a greater influence on how it is run

Free and fair elections - disagree

• Everybody has the same right to vote, regardless of race, gender etc.

• There are multiple opportunities to vote (GE, Scottish and Welsh Parliaments, local mayor etc.) and people are making use of this.

• Turnout has been increasing for GE since 2001

• FPTP is a simple system which people understand

Representation in parliament - agree

• The executive sits in HoC so can force through measures which havent been properly scrutinised
  E.g. 2016 Trade Union Act and current policing bill fundamentally alter the rights of citizens and these are not properly scrutinised as govt is able to dominate parliament Esp with a strong majority for example after the 2019 election

• Representation is still not sufficient - 34% of MPs are women

• HoL is completely unelected

• Worsened by the presence of 92 hereditary peers

Representation in parliament is not good enough to be indicative of a healthy democracy, especially considering the lack of democratic elections for the HoL

Representation of Parliament - disagree

• Representation is moving in a positive direction
  Recent cabinets have included more people from ethnic minorities, for example Liz Truss' cabinet was the most diverse in history These people from different backgrounds help advocate for these people in different groups in the UK

• House of Lords represents a variety of industries and experts

• E.g. Lord Sugar represents the interests of businesses and their owners and helps scrutinise legislation through the lens of people from this group

Protection of rights - agree

• Governments with a majority can rewrite laws, and therefore alter our rights relatively easily, ultimately the rule of law is what the govt determines it is

• Govt has been able to weaken Freedom of Press. The Guardian was not able to publish information regarding Saudi arms deals, demonstrating how the govt weakened the freedom of press

• Fundamental rights can be abolished through a simple parliament act (e.g. to abolish Human Rights Act 1998)

• 2021 Policing Bill disrupts the right to protest as gives police powers to crack down on peaceful protests. E.g. peaceful protesters at a vigil in Clapham Common for Sarah Everard were broken up by the police

• Right to strike- minimum service levels - if they are not met employers will be able to sue unions and employees for not providing this undermines the impact of striking, therefore diminishing their rights to strike

Protection of rights - disagree

• Freedom of speech and freedom of press etc. Protected by Human Rights Act 1998-gives the judiciary a lot of power, courts are independent from govt- neutral

• Freedom of press

• Freedom of
  Information Act - gives press the ability to investigate politicians wrongdoings. Expenses Scandal - daily telegraph published list of MPs expenses claims which were misusing public funds